Statoil’s Heavy Oil Technology Centre (HOTC) in Calgary is dedicated to finding more efficient ways to extract heavy oil from Alberta’s oilsands and at the same time reducing emissions from this massive industrial project.

Jonathan Matthews, vice-president, HOTC, is an enthusiastic advocate for the next-generation technology being developed at the centre that will ensure a sustainable future for Canada’s vast oil reserves.

“We are very much committed to the Canadian oilsands efforts here in Alberta,” Mr. Matthews says. “We are not yet a big producer in Canada. But the intent is that we are going to differentiate ourselves with technology and that will be one of the enablers for us to increase our presence and our production. We anticipate that Statoil will become a much more recognizable organization and brand in North America.”

Statoil’s HOTC research and development team has experts working in Norway and Calgary; the primary mandate is the development and implementation of innovative ways to recover bitumen from deep below the Earth’s surface.

Producing that energy also means finding ways to reduce the operation’s carbon footprint when extracting extra heavy oil from challenging reservoirs, ones that previously would have been almost impossible to use.

Statoil, a relative newcomer in the Canadian industry, made a name for itself as a leading innovator in offshore exploration and production, especially from the offshore oil and gas fields of the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Statoil intends to harness the innovative and collaborative spirit that produced multiple breakthroughs on the NCS to advance technologies that will improve the environmental performance and profitability of in-situ production from the Canadian oilsands.

The company, which began in Norway, is known for its innovation and leadership in the areas of exploration and production.

“We have delivered a lot of offshore innovation and leading-edge technology, and now we’ve got an opportunity as we move into this different technology. We are looking to build on that history and our past track record of being effective innovators,” says Mr. Matthews.

The technology is a potential game-changer for the energy sector as it ensures Canadians have a supply of fuel well into the future, he says.

It includes imaging and mapping methods to see into the underground reservoirs without having to disturb the surface of the ground. Whenever the land is disturbed by oilsands activity, Statoil is committed to reclaiming the land to productive use in a way sensitive to the needs of local stakeholders.

Constantly pushing for improved yield through innovative production methods, such as steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), together with improved recovery efficiencies mean higher yields and a reduction in the use of energy and natural resources, such as water.

Statoil is also investing a significant amount of money to meet its goal of recycling 90 per cent of the water used when high-pressure steam is injected into oilsands deposits. The innovations allow the oil to be recovered to the surface with water filling the space left behind by the recovered oil.

“We have made a very substantial investment in research and development,” Mr. Matthews says. That investment means an improved efficiency in recycling, reducing CO2 emissions and allowing a greater reuse of materials, he adds.

HOTC is Statoil’s first technology centre outside Norway and represents a long-term investment in the industry and in Canada.

“Statoil is legitimately very proud of its track record, however our slogan says it all — Always Evolving, Never Satisfied. We just want to get better all of the time.”